Robert McKenna is trying to store up as much good karma as he can for both himself and his clients.
When it came to starting his own lawn and landscaping service, he said it only made sense to do it eco-friendly.
“No one does it, but it can be done,” McKenna said.
His lawn care and landscaping service, Karma Care, launched in May and is steadily growing. McKenna’s commercial mower runs off propane instead of gasoline. His other lawn equipment is electric or battery powered.
On landscaping projects, McKenna uses organic fertilizer and native Tennessee plants. He uses Deciduous Designs, owned by Michael Rhoades, as a subcontractor on some landscaping projects.
McKenna, who is working on earning a degree in plant and soil science at MTSU, has a small but bushy beard and an overall presence that gives him away as a quasi-hippie. He admits he grew up in a very environmentally conscious family that instilled in him a love of the outdoors and caring for the planet.
“Being eco-friendly is a lifestyle change that someone has to make,” McKenna said. “There are people into it.”
He thinks enough Murfreesboro- and Nashville-area homeowners are concerned about the health of the environment that they would seek out his services, or at least contract him due to his affordable prices and professional service.
“The green industry is no longer a fad,” McKenna said referring to the viability of his company. “It is a way of life.
“It is my job to make people aware of what is going on,” he said later.
Jason Yeary contracted Karma Care to cut his yard after seeing a sticker promoting the company on McKenna’s vehicle.
“The name caught me a little bit, I guess,” he said. “Obviously, it implies an eco-friendly vibe. I just wanted to find out more about that.”
Yeary said he is impressed by the quality of McKenna’s work.
“The only difference that I can hear is that his machine is not nearly as loud as a regular mower,” he said.
Similarly, Smotherman Properties contracted McKenna to landscape and cut the lawns of its homes for lease and for sale.
Stephanie Smotherman, property manager, said she hired the company due to its eco-friendliness. She was referred to the company by an area real estate agent.
“We try all we can to do our part to save the environment, and every little bit helps,” she said.
The statistics on the pollution that is caused by gas-powered lawn equipment is staggering, McKenna said.
“It is a problem that people aren’t even aware of,” he said. “My job is to provide an environmentally sound alternative.”
McKenna said 10 percent of all air pollution is caused by lawn equipment.
A traditional lawn mower produces as much air pollution as 43 new cars each being driven 12,000 miles, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Propane burns cleaner because it is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. Using propane cuts down air pollution by more than 90 percent.
Additionally, 17 million gallons of fuel, mostly gasoline, are spilled each year while refueling lawn equipment, stated the EPA, which is more than all of the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez in the Gulf of Alaska.
McKenna said using propane in tanks for fuel eliminates spillage.
The new business owner said he has only just begun. He has many ideas that he hopes implement in the near future.
One of his short-term goals is to be able to transport his equipment with a biodiesel-fueled vehicle.
McKenna’s many long-term goals include expanding his company into the Nashville, Brentwood and Franklin markets as well as opening his own nursery.
Erin Edgemon can be reached at 869-0812 and at eedgemon@murfreesboropost.com.
Karma Care LLC
Robert McKenna, president
838-1342
karmacare@yahoo.com
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